Madam, - I had an opportunity to watch Neasa Ní Chianáin's film Fairytale of Kathmandu a few weeks ago and have followed the debate stimulated by the film in recent weeks with interest. For my part, I can only commend the filmmaker for her considerable courage in making and releasing a film that at times painfully explores and reveals her own naiveté and desire to believe in the goodness of her subject.
It is an uncomfortable film to watch - not because it is horrific in its portrayal of sexual abuse and exploitation, but because it takes the viewer on a journey that demands a move from the comfort of awe-struck adoration to an acceptance of a very uncomfortable truth: that the propensity to exploit other human beings can exist within us all, regardless of our gifts and talents, our deep connection with spirituality and humanity or even our desire to help others.
It would be easy to demonise Cathal Ó Searcaigh as a result of the film. He has serious questions to answer; more importantly, he has serious questions to ask himself. I hope that he finds within himself the courage and capacity to undertake that journey and the support that he needs to do so. The compassion of his friends will matter; if they are truly his friends they will move from a position of denial to one of loving but strong and supportive challenge.
Our primary concern, however, must be for the boys portrayed in the film. That they have been exploited seems to me to be beyond question. I have been struck by the comments which have sought to deny the extent of that exploitation, and how they mirror many comments made about my own experience of abuse as a teenager. Just six years ago there were those who were public in their denial of my own experience. I was subjected to comments like: "You knew what you were doing when you climbed into bed with that priest". Denial, that source of great societal comfort, never changes.
Exploitation, be it sexual or economic, is based on the use of relative power and authority to manipulate the other for some form of gratification. There can be no doubt that Cathal Ó Searcaigh was in a position of considerable power in his relationships with the boys - and they are boys, not men - who feature in this film. I would suggest that only upon viewing the film is anyone in a position to comment upon the extent of any exploitation it documents.
The film poses vitally important questions that we must debate without focusing narrowly upon the individuals involved. It raises fundamental questions about the profound wrong evidenced in the exploitation of girls and boys, women and men, who live in poverty by relatively wealthy tourists from predominantly Western countries. Anyone who has travelled in the global south, from Africa to Asia and to South America, will have witnessed at first hand such exploitation and abuse.
I am saddened that some commentators, from either side of this current debate, have focused on Cathal Ó Searcaigh's sexuality. Wrong is wrong, regardless of who the wrongdoer is and how they choose to live their lives.
The human propensity to exploit others for sexual gratification is not limited to any particular sexual orientation. It is an irrelevant red herring. The director handles this dimension of the story with care and respect. Those who comment would do well to do the same.
I for one will attend the screenings of this important and courageous film and I hope others will take the time to fully inform their own views by doing likewise. - Yours, etc,
COLM O'GORMAN, Tara Hill, Gorey, Co Wexford.